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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23414692">perspective</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/jayhood/pseuds/jayhood'>jayhood</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batgirl (Comics), Batman (Comics), Red Hood: Lost Days, Robin (Comics)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bad Parenting, Cassandra Cain is Batgirl, Gen, Jason Todd is Not Red Hood, Stephanie Brown is Robin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 08:42:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,290</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23414692</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/jayhood/pseuds/jayhood</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>There's some value in learning from the best. Knowledge is priceless. It can literally turn your life around.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jason Todd &amp; Talia al Ghul, Stephanie Brown &amp; Cassandra Cain</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>99</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>It's either a one-shot, or a prologue for yet another Jason&amp;Damian fic where Jason kidnaps Damian and takes him outside of Ra's influence.</p><p>upd. turned out more of a second one!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“You're done feeling sorry for yourself?” The boy came down the stairs and helped himself to David's whiskey.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>David couldn't see his face in the uneven candlelight. The boy recoiled quickly after sniffing the glass anyway. He put it down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>David took it up. No sense in wasting good alcohol. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thought you left."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The boy spread out on the chair opposite him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thought about it, when I hear the Bat is coming to town. Thought about it even earlier, in fact."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What's stopping you?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The boy shrugged, leaning his elbow on the armrest, chin in hand, staring at David.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Figured if Talia sent me here, you have to have something for me to learn. Couldn't see what for a while. Yeah, you were Batman's teacher once upon a time. But now you're just a mean, washed-out drunk."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>David pointed finger at him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Watch it. I trained the best fighters the world knows, and I still can kick </span>
  <em>
    <span>your </span>
  </em>
  <span>ass."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sure, sure. That's not the lesson, though."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>David took another sip. His throat was very dry. He wasn't in a chatting mood, and with every coming minute, his headache became worse and worse. He didn't want to indulge Talia's brat, so he said nothing. The boy will learn to take a hint.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The boy didn't. He continued.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"See, I was wrong about Talia. I thought me and her are on the same page. That the point of this whole exercise is for me to get better. We have very different opinions on what '</span>
  <em>
    <span>better' </span>
  </em>
  <span>means, though. And what do I need to do with what I learn."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't give the slightest fuck of what you do."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>David grunted, gesturing with his glass. Some of the contents spilled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No, of course not." The boy smiled placatingly. "Tell me, who was that girl on the tape?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The living proof of me being the superior martial arts teacher."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No, I got that. Just - what's her name? Where did she come from?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"My daughter. I started with her before she could even walk."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The boy nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thought as much. I found the older films too. You know, not even once you call her by her name. Does she even have one? No, you don't even address her directly, not once. Could she even talk?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Pity her at your own peril," David snorted. "She's a better fighter than me. She's better than Batman is, and he knows it. Why do you think he's so scared now?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You think Batman is scared? I don't think I had ever seen the poor bastard scared. He's pissed. Disgusted. Enraged." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What, because she doesn't understand speech? She doesn't need to. Even at that age, she was smarter than you," David murmured into his glass. Speaking up was hard. He shouldn't have drunk this last one portion of whiskey. But there was still some in his glass. He drunk it all at once. "Didn't need to be told to know what's needed."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The boy was nodding again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So do I." He leaned forward, catching David by his hair and making him lookup.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>David smashed his fist - or tried to. His hands were asleep. He couldn't move his body. He couldn't... couldn't...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"</span>
  <em>
    <span>That's </span>
  </em>
  <span>what she wanted," the boy said. "That's what I needed."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His voice was coming as though from under the surface. David couldn't see him clearly. Couldn't do anything. Couldn't breathe...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>'She owes me everything she is,' David thought, but didn't say. His lips, his tongue weren't listening to him anymore. His whole body became numb. 'And she is perfect. How is that bad?'</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was a stray thought, here one second and gone next, because, now every muscle of his was on fire, it felt like. He was burning from inside out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Help," he managed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The boy chuckled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The most important thing I could have learned from you and the ones before you is to stop pitying myself for the worst fucking childhood in the world. It wasn't. There are even worse parents. They want to kill their children because the husband cheated. Or they make a weapon out of you because they're assassins and death is their trade. And to think I hated my father, wanted revenge on him, just because he didn't love me enough! Who cares? I don't love him now, too, we're even. You, though? I care about you. About her. All the girls before her. All the girls after."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"There... wasn't... anyone. After." David wheezed out. "Please."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The boy's hand wasn't gentle when he pushed David away. David fell out of the chair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And there won't be."</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Batgirl and Robin</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>First time Batgirl and Robin partner up. Goes off without a hitch, really, until the case ends with a bang.<br/>Or, Gotham finest rescue a little girl and reflect on similarities in their past, finding that shitty fathers are more common than you would think. How does Oswald Cobblepot fit into this? More directly than they know (so far).</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>All the fic is outlined, and some chapters are halfway-written already. Yay!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Nothing really ends, not even with death. But all stories have to start somewhere, right? Not as far back as the Big Bang, it would take as much to cover all the irrelevant crap that happened since there. As far as this story goes, for Stephanie, it starts when she decides to visit her boyfriend at his school and finds him sucking face with another girl.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She guesses it makes her seem kinda petty. Scorned lover going behind her ex's back to plot and conspire with his former mentor. Maybe she was, right at that second, when she turned away and went back to the little apartment she shared with her mom, and closed herself in her room for three days, working out her rage on the sewing machine.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her Robin uniform turned out pretty great, as far as revenge plots go. The rest of it, you could say was - alright. She had official Batman’s endorsement, now. Which meant she had him to supervise her training, Agent A to patch up her bruises and scrapes, and Barbara had to share intel, now. The best thing of it all, she could patrol with Cassandra and not worry about her knocking Steph out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Of course, that’s where everything started to go sideways.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They made a pretty good team, if Steph said so herself. They knocked out bad guys, they found out about the experimental weapon Penguin had received with his last shipment from Europe. They figured out how he was going to move the rest of it. They rescued the little girl, they busted up buyers. Melanie’s father went to the police voluntarily and they didn’t even had to break his fingers for it. Not that she would. And they tracked down Penguin in his latest flame’s hideout, throwing things in his baggage. Oh, how Stephanie wanted to desecrate his smug little face! Cobblepot was so sure his lawyers or his money going to spring him up from jail before the end of the week. No remorse, not even a hint of understanding what kind of danger he put those kids in. Hell, the burly guy from a bar nearly shot Melanie! And he didn’t care. Stephanie barely held herself together. Cass stopped her in time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>That’s the most impressive thing about Cassandra, how she is so put together. Steph knew just as she did that any physical marks on Penguin’s body would be just another point his lawyer could use to get him off the hook, for police brutality or whatever. Even in Gotham, prosecution of cases with vigilante involvement was a trick and a half. So, go Cass and her level-headness.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They waited until the police showed up and read Penguin his Miranda rights, not taking chances on anything with a case this serious. It’s only after that they left, to go check on Melanie.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were maybe five, six roofs away when the comms cracked with static, and then they heard Barbara’s voice, telling them to get back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They leave the building through the roof, the same as they came. Cass looks out for Robin. She shakes, still. Robin is not stronger than her. She does have more muscles than the previous one. But heaving Penguin up and tossing him over the room takes more than that. This fire, inside you. Cass doesn't feel it often. Melanie. Little Tim. The girl with blond pigtails. The man with short black hair. A small chalk silhouette on the apartment floor. She knows Robin wanted to do more because they can't do anything else. And because Cass wanted to do more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But they can't.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oracle speaks through the comm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Where are you?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Going back to Melanie's," Robin says. "We heard them talking about releasing her into her mother's custody. They got her father all locked up already. Why?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Go back. Immediately."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cass could make the turn in the air. Robin needs to land, first. They do but Robin does not follow so Cass stops, hesitates. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Again," Robin says, "Why? They were Mirandizing Penguin just as we were leaving. Did that piece of shit escape the custody already?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You could say that," Oracle says. "He was shot from a roof of the building across the street. Somebody really didn't want Penguin talking about where he got those guns, I guess. Go there and look around, see what you can find."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The comm clicks. Barbara is not on the line anymore.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well," Robin says. "Shit."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She touches her face, fingers going to rub her eyes, but the mask doesn't let her. Cass touches her shoulder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Alright," Robin says. The shaking stopped. Her spine is tense, now. She prowls forward. She is not glad to hear the news. "We're fine, let's go."</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>They don't find much when they return to the crime scene. They can't get to the roof across the building because cops are all over the place. Cass checks the crowd, staring at them from up high intently because there are a lot of people when the word gets out that notorious Oswald Cobblepot was shot dead on the steps of his own building. But there's never anyone who pings her radar. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Steph feels useless, and she hates that feeling.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She hates hearing it even less. When they get back to the Batcave, Batman is an asshole.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You left too early," he says. "You should have overseen the police taking Penguin in. Then you would have been able to react immediately and take the sniper into custody, or at least track him down."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Steph throws her hands up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We literally passed Penguin from our hands to a detective in this case!" Batman gives her a glare, and oh, yeah, she shouldn't raise her voice at him. Not when her position as his second in command - no, that's Cass - as his third... No, that's Babs. And there's Agent A. And don't forget about Nightwing and who knows who else. Thing is, Steph knows she's no one's first choice, so maybe she should curb her tendencies to scream her feelings out? She continues more sedately.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We couldn't have predicted..."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You should be ready for anything."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Penguin wasn't worried," Cass says suddenly. Thanks for the assist, sis. "He expected to get out quick."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Exactly!" Steph says. "I mean, if he didn't anticipate his death, and he for sure knows who he's dealing with, how could we?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Don't give me excuses," Batman says. "Be better."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He turns his back to them. Cass takes it as a sign to leave. Steph goes to the training equipment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Cass meets Robin the next day. She is angry over something. There is a paper in her hands, with her photo on it. She’s flying over the roof. It is a good photo. Robin looks very nice in it. She does not think so. She hates that photo, crumbles it in her hand but not letting it go.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you see it?” she asks. “Fucking Gotham Gazette.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cass shakes her head. Steph laughs shortly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s where not being able to read comes handy, I guess.” Then, she looks up at Cass quickly. She is not afraid that Cass will hit her but she is afraid of something. “Sorry, that was insensitive. And my offer still stands, you know? About teaching you? Though now I understand why you won’t. People are very nasty sometimes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They are. But why? Cass inclines her head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, I’m just talking about today’s headline. New Robin - should girls be welcome to vigilantism. I mean, how fucking stupid is that? No one allowed to be a vigilante, it’s illegal by its definition!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cass frowns. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And anyway, it’s not our faults. Me wishing somebody shot the guy did not make it true.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cass frowns some more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t look at me like that. You know what he did. You know how close he was to ruining that girl’s life?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Robin goes back and forth. She is agitated. She is upset. She is remembering something.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened?” Cass asks. Stops Robin. Pulls her closer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Robin sighs and sits down. “So, you know Cluemaster? My father. He died, recently, but...”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s a long story. Robin backtracks when she forgets about something, and doesn’t return to the same place. And her speech is more accented now. It is hard to follow. But Cassandra understands. She sees what happened to Robin in the slop of her shoulders. How she hold herself as though her stomach hurts. How tired she sounds.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It is important for Cassandra to make sure Robin knows she understands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When she falls silent, Cassandra sits closer so their hands touch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“David Cain,” she says. “He raised me. Taught me everything. Made me... how I am. I killed someone, for him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cass closes her eyes shut. Holds her breath. Her heart is racing. Now, it’s her who is scared.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Robin is too quiet. And then, she laughs, and falls back to the roof surface.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my god, Cass. Sorry, I’m not laughing at you. It’s - I’m a little hysterical, so sue me. It’s just - you win, okay? On the basis of shitty and traumatic origin story, you win, hands down. You have me beat at everything, even this.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cass’s lips tremble. It is a little funny. It’s strange that she’s crying.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey,” Robin says, coming back up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She touches Cass shoulder. Cass doesn’t look back. Can’t. She is certain she does not make a sound, and her mask does not show her face. But she is sure Robin will know if she looks at her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey. It’s alright. Well, no, it’s not, but it’s not you, alright? You’re fine. You’re great. It is fucked up, what happened to you, whatever the hell happened to you. But you are not.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That’s when Cass looks back. She can’t help herself. She needs to see.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She releases the breath she was holding when she sees that Robin is telling the truth.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 2. Batman</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which Bruce delegates some parts of investigation, and in order to do that, he has to face the past.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>In times like this, Bruce feels Tim's absence very acutely.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There's just no one in Gotham bold enough to snipe Penguin in his own borough when he is surrounded by police, and leave not leaving a trace and not attracting attention. He has to look farther away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His first thought is the same as Barbara's. It's too convenient a coincidence that Penguin is killed just as he is arrested for selling experimental guns. So looking into the origin of those guns is the first thing he should do. The problem with this theory, everyone knows where the guns were designed. It was a small Japanese R&amp;D firm that went under when the contract with the British Military fell through and was swallowed by Luthorcorp during its expansion in Asia. Bruce doubts the corporation stopped any and all illegal activities just because Luthor himself was the President now. But it certainly cleaned up its act. And dealing with the Penguin? He was a household name here in his hometown. But for the global black market, he was a small fish. If the new management of Luthorcorp was negligent enough to allow this kind of short-term gain, long-term PR nightmare, they would have seen a lot more cases like this in the past few years.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He can not exactly rule it out, still, but spending too much time on it seems... Self-indulgent, considering who the new CEO is. Now, if Tim was still with him, Bruce knows he could have trusted him to look at the case from this angle diligently and without prejudice. Stephanie, however... He admires her gumption but this is just above her level.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Perhaps, he could outsource the leg work to another energetic and stubborn young woman he knew.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He calls Vesper.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They didn't part their ways amicably. Bruce designed it this way. But he knows she will come like he knows Sasha would get back, leave her new assignment if he ever asked. That's why he won't. Sasha still holds some feelings toward him while Vesper, by all means, moved on in her life. She did not get a new boyfriend but she did branch out to more traditional journalism. Wrote quite a scathing expose on Robin. He wonders if it's jealousy. If she knows. So the dinner date they will have serves more than one purpose.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> If she actually shows up, that's one point toward Vesper figured it out. If she asks him questions, it will be another.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She doesn't, though.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>First of all, Vesper declines his invitations. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"If you want to apologize to me," she snorts into the phone, "Don't you think it would be more than fair to come to me, for a change?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It is. And so he goes to the upper part of the Coventry. The area is still rebuilding after the No-Man's Land, but the duplex Vesper lives in seems to be in a good shape.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I thought you had a penthouse," he says instead of a greeting, smiling. It's a softball, thrown to gauge if she plays or let it fall on the grass. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vesper chuckles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You remember that awful earthquake two years back? And No Man's Land and all that?" she waves him in, locking the door behind him and squeezing past him and down the hall, to a kitchen. She expects him to follow. "Well, the building with my apartment in it was destroyed, thankfully without me in it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Insurance? Savings?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Insurance, yes, it was a pain to actually get them to pay. Barely covered the cost of this humble abode," she says. "You would think that the housing market plummets after a cataclysm like this but no."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She smiles at him like she's telling a joke. Hands him a glass of wine. He smiles back, as though he gets it, when, in fact, they both know he doesn't. Not really.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She looks beautiful like this, in the soft lights of her kitchen, sitting right across him on the other side of kitchen islands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You never told me," he said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then, after the cataclysm but before the bridges were cut off from the mainland, they saw each other, very shortly, yes, but still. Come to think about it, he doesn't know where she disappeared to, either.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Why, what would you do?" she says. "Offered me to move in? Please. I was... optimistic, maybe, but I wasn't delusional."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She changes the topic rather abruptly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"By the way, I'm not making dinner," she says, narrowing her eyes on him. "We're ordering, and you're paying."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They do, and it's just a pizza from a nearby place.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I said I'm a girl of simple tastes, didn't I?" she comments. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He recalls their first not-really-a-date, in a diner after a late-night radio show. Yes, yes she did. And every time she invited him somewhere, it was to a zoo, or a public garden, or a walk in the park. Something simple and engaging. It's him who booked tables at fancy restaurants, bought tickets to opera and took her to exclusive parties. After all, how she could be a part of his cover if they weren't seen together?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's a wonder he had to stage a scene to get her to walk out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When the pizza is on the way, she looks at him, crossing her arms.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So, let's hear it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm sorry, Vesper," Bruce says sincerely. He lays his hand above hers. "You deserved better."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Damn right I did," Vesper is finding this funny, somehow, based on how she's smiling and huffing. It should be a good sign but Bruce doesn't think it is. "But what exactly are you sorry for?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"For cheating on you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She makes a noize like a buzzer on a family show when someone says a wrong answer. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I told you I didn't care about that. Want to try again?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He tries not to frown. Yes, she did.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But it still hurt you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She rolls her eyes at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That's not what hurt me. It's you faking it again, only instead of a headache, you had three girls in a jacuzzi. If I was moving too fast for you, if there was someone else, if you wanted to break up, you should have used your words, you know?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He smiles sheepishly. Sometimes it works.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm not particularly good with it. Words. Feelings. And there wasn't anyone else. Well, I mean, no one serious."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What about miss Bordeaux? I saw her looking at you, and me, more than once."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sasha? God, no. She was my bodyguard, it wouldn't be... ethical, from either of our sides. And when the feelings became a problem for her, it was well past you and me. She resigned then, actually."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Smart girl," Vesper says with a kind of longing like she would have liked to be as smart as Sasha, in regards to Bruce. She straightens up. "So what then? Come on, the only reason I'm allowing you to apologize is to get some closure. If it wasn't some other woman..."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It wasn't you, either."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's true but it sounds false. She snorts and drinks from her glass.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So, "it's not you it's me" route, then? As far as closures go, it's a shitty one."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But it is me."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah," Vesper says, looking at him pityingly. "I know. Question remains, what changed? What do you want now, except to make amends? I doubt you want to take up where we left off."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Nothing changed," he says. "And everything did. I recently lost some people - they are not dead, nothing like that, just... moved away. We are not in contact anymore. It made me think about things. How much of people leaving is my fault. If I drive people away."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You do," Vesper says. "You can be very charming when you want. So if anyone ever leaves, that's your choice, not theirs."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bruce can't find anything to say to that, for a moment. He expected her to argue, to console. He is acting vulnerable, soft, relatable. It should have worked. It was his ultimate weapon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But instead, her words strike him like a punch from Batgirl, for some reason.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And I thought about other people I drove away," he continues as planned after all. "About you. I found myself missing you. Not - not romantically. But..."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You want us to be friends," she says. She has a smile on her face again. It's more ironic than sincere. "God, Bruce, can you be more of a cliche?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bruce smiles in return, shrugs and waves his hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She sighs. She looks like she is going to regret whatever she says next but she is going to say it regardless.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Alright. But you are on a trial basis, and I expect the no question asked full money guarantee."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's a lovely evening after that. They have a lovely dinner. She tells him about her second job at the newspaper. She asks about what really happened when he was trying to get Gotham the help it desperately needed and why it failed. She doesn't have her recorder out but she warns him that she may be quoting him in the future if she gets enough material to write the article for the three-years anniversary of the earthquake. He doesn't mind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He can barely wait until he can bring up the topic that concerns him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"By the way," he says. They are in her living room, now, which is not much of a room at all. He's sitting beside her on the sofa, each of them has a wine glass in hand, and he's caressing Vesper's hand with a finger slightly. "You are not covering that horrid business with Cobblepot, are you?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I do, actually. You did see my today's article, right? It was the front page. What?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bruce slips: he frowns in displeasure slightly when she mentions that, and looking like he's criticizing Vesper's opinions is not very helpful.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Not as much, but I heard about it. Seems like a fair share of the female population in Gotham hates you right now."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She snorts, taking her hand away and fixing a stray hair lock from her bun.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Right, if I am a woman then I need to just accept other women doing stupid things, or I am a traitor to my species."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"True, doesn't seem fair. But I can't recall you ever questioning if Batman should be allowed to exist, and he failed quite a few times."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's baiting her It's not elegant but it should work. Vesper looks at him, rolling her lower lip between her teeth, contemplating her response.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The easy answer to that," she says at last. "Is that I'm not going to write about him at all before we have any footage of him actually existing. Or any other solid evidence. Before that, he's just an urban legend, and I'm going to leave it to Vicky Vale. And Robin was very conveniently caught on photo."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which is another thing Batman has to talk with Stephanie about. But, hopefully, prolonged exposure to Batgirl will make her more careful in her ways, so he let it be for now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And the truth?" he says, making sure to incline his head to bring himself a little closer to Vesper and smile a little.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She turns away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The truth is, I don't care about Batman. By all witness accounts, he's a grown-up man. Able-bodied, without a day job, most likely, or he wouldn't be able to operate as long as he did. So probably well-off, too. If that's how he prefers to spend his life, it's a GCPD problem, not the community one. It's different, for women."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How so?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Look. The only one who has it rougher than low income, young girls in Gotham, is if they are low income, young girls of color. Girls face the same dangers as we all but it's harder for them to keep themselves out of dangerous situations. They are most likely to do the bulk of household work because if they have parents, they are probably working overtime or a second, a third job to make ends meet. Add to it the general attitude towards girls and education, we get lower grades, fewer chances of getting into college, even less of a scholarship. Their job prospects are worse because anyone would rather hire a man, or a boy, or at least a grown woman, for any entry-level job. Even among criminal activity, not much open to them. Unlike the Black Mask, the Joker, or, hell, even Penguin, Poison Ivy, Queen, Catwoman, they all work alone. And like hell any of men would even consider hiring a woman as a hench</span>
  <em>
    <span>man</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Mafia has pretty strict gender politics as well. What's open to them, basically, is making up their own gang. Which sounds fun and feministic, right? Only not really, because all the territory is pretty much spoken for at this point. Any square mile of turf, every corner is going to be fought for tooth and nail. And you would think in such a chauvinistic structure as GCPD, the rates of police brutality against women would be lower, comparatively? But actual data on rape and assault in custody says otherwise. What's left? Ah, yes, street walking. Escort, if you manage to invest in yourself or just naturally gifted. Do I need to say why it's a really dangerous career to be in? Everywhere, not just in Gotham. But... Especially in Gotham."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She takes a pause to breathe. Bruce uses it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But really, isn't it good that we now have a female Robin? For girls to aspire to something... Something good?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vesper looks at him in disgust.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"God, that's just such a Brucie Wayne thing to say! The only thing they will aspire to, at this rate, is to how to be tragically and brutally murdered, and/or sexually assaulted. Gotham does not respect women, Bruce. Gotham swallows them whole."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Batgirl is active for two years now. There's also Huntress, Batwoman..."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No matter how good you are, one day you just going to lose the fight. Accident, mistake, or just the other guy stronger than you are. A trap, or overwhelming force. That's true for Batman, too. Only the worst thing he has to fear is a simple bullet to his brain."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bruce looks away. He regrets asking the question, now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vesper, however, continues.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And I really, really don't want to have to write about Robin being caught by this or that scumbag and, I don't know, drilled to death. Because of course, scumbags need something to sublimate their sexual disfunction with. And even worse, write about some other girl making a suit for herself, being inspired, being hopeful, trying to make a change but ending up in the morgue. And that is exactly where they would end up."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"This does sound concerning," Bruce says. "So, perhaps, you will understand why I don't want you to look further into the Penguin, or in Luthorcorp."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vesper grimaces when he says that but then does a double-take.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Wait, what? What it was about Luthorcorp?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bruce holds his hand out placatingly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Nothing! Forget it. Allegations of her father being tied to a terrorist organization were never proven anyway. And you saw how much good she did to Metropolis? She's one of the good ones. Even Lois Lane sings her praises. Well, praises for Lane, anyway."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which is one additional reason not to include Clark in the investigation. The other being, Batman does not </span>
  <em>
    <span>ask</span>
  </em>
  <span> for help.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Alright, Bruce," Vesper murmurs into her glass. "If you say so. Now, how about you tell me what the hell happened with that artist and the garden?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The rest of their evening is uneventful. When he gets back to the Manor, he gets another disapproving glare from Alfred.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He tries to explain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm not placing her at risk," he says. "Talia won't try anything with a member of a press investigation her. Not in Metropolis."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You have underestimated miss al Ghul before," Alfred says. "But I believe in this instance, you are right."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So why are you cross with me again, then?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"When you were out, you missed a call from Tim Drake. Miss Brown answered the phone. She left in tears."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"If Tim was being rude to her, I fail to see how it is my fault."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The glare loses its intensity. Alfred turns away, and this somehow is even worse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Indeed, sir. I cannot think of a thing the young man would be upset about."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"If he is upset, it does not mean he's allowed to take his feelings out on other people." Especially when the situation is his own fault anyway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That is true," Alfred says, leaving him alone. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bruce wants to punch something.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He goes out on patrol. Perhaps, some gang members heard something about a new gun for hire in town. He would love to persuade them to share the news.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>1) Bruce Wayne: Fugitive does not happen as Cain has been murdered around a year ago. So Vesper Fairchild is alive and well. And yes, she didn't forgive and forget, but she is willing to give Bruce another chance. What can you do, her lifestyle does not accommodate having many close friends. She doesn't have time or spoons, really, to seek out new people in her life.<br/>2) Timeline is a little fudged - sorry about that. But it is a sacrifice I had to make,</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 3. Jason</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Here we're going to find out who killed Penguin. Yeah, it's not a mystery novel.</p><p>Or,<br/>Jason Todd is not a Red Hood. It doesn't mean he doesn't kill people. He's just more selective about his targets.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The business with Penguin wraps up fast. He sends Talia a thank you text. He knows these guns came from an overseas lab newly purchased by Lexcorp that was specializing in patent infringement. She cleaned the house from the inside, but what was already sold had to be taken off the streets lest it is traced back to her company. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>So in a way, he knows Talia has her own interest in this case. But she could have done it in a lot of different ways. Maybe she doesn't have the League behind her anymore, doesn't mean operatives really big corporate money can buy on the free market wouldn't have done the job the same. So when Talia found out about Penguin's little distribution problem and his creative solution, she reached out to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jason was in the States for a change. Not in Gotham, never in Gotham, but nearby all the same. After all, it's only an hour from Metropolis on a speedway. And Damian's birthday was coming up. He wanted to suggest a visit to the zoo, just the three of them and Lexcorp security detail.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Plans change, though, and he's a flexible man. Initially, he wanted to prioritize the kids. But when he actually got to the city and traced the buyers, all the deals except one were done. And the last one, a Batgirl and... a Robin was on the case.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was fine. He surveyed all of it from a safe distance. Batgirl, no surprise here, wasn't a girl of many words but she diffused the situation perfectly. The little girl who was staring at her through the barrel of the most lethal handgun in the world surrendered the weapon. Though maybe it was because it was too heavy to hold too long. Jason could just imagine it. The pull it has on muscles, the fear of what's going to happen, now, and the clear voice whispering in his ear that he has only one choice left, now. Shoot. It doesn't even matter if the bullet pierces the armor, or if it even gets to the target. It's enough of a distraction to get away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But the little girl surrenders, and Jason breaths out and gets the hell out of there. He needs to find Penguin, now.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Penguin is lying low. Jason doesn't want to show his face to anyone, people in Gotham have very loose tongues, proved by the fact the League got their hands on him. So after he checks a few obvious places, and strikes out, he has to backtrack and find the Bats on this case again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's risky, sure, but it's the most effective use of his time. He was sure, once or twice, that Batgirl would clock him but she was distracted by Robin, apparently. It's one of the reasons Jason is glad Robin is on the case, he says to himself. The other reason is that the colorful uniform is a hell easier to trace. The </span>
  <em>
    <span>real </span>
  </em>
  <span>reason being... Jason's glad that whoever replaced him wasn't up on actually keeping the job for long. Yeah. Sometimes Jason is petty like that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But it's actually something to consider. What happened to the third Robin? Did he and the old man have a difference in opinions, like B had with Dick? Or was it more like something that happened to Jason... Jason puts a pin on this thought. He has a job to do.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's currently at the roof of the building across the street. He has a rifle all set up already, and a voice amplifier in his hands. He hears the sheer fury in Robin's voice after Penguin brags about being bailed out in no time, and thinks,</span>
  <em>
    <span> me too, sis</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he sends the bullet through Penguin's brain, it's for all the little girls and boys whose daddies put handguns in their school bags and send them out onto the streets to sell it, or drugs, or something else, on Penguin's say so. And men like Penguin. Let it be the lesson.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He doesn't stick around for long after that. Batgirl and Robin could not be far away, so he has to get gone quick. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He gets away without even getting tailed. He gets to the safehouse. It is not actually a safehouse but a short-time rental you can find and book on the Internet. Seriously, you’re dead for less than a year, and travel the world for maybe another two, and suddenly you can find </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything </span>
  </em>
  <span>and </span>
  <em>
    <span>anyone </span>
  </em>
  <span>online.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He showers. He washes his clothes. He paces.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There’s this feeling in his chest, like a hot spiked ball that detracts and expands. It makes him feel like punching something. This happens sometimes, after he does his thing. His mind is not focused on the task anymore, but it feels like it should be. Like it’s not over. He’s missing something but his brain refuses to cooperate and tell him what. So that’s how he feels right now, but more so.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When it’s time to call Talia, he hesitates. He doesn’t want her to realize he’s losing it again. She will think sending him to Gotham was a mistake. But if he doesn’t call her, she will know it for sure. And, usually, when he feels like that, talking with her helps. She radiates calm and assurance that you are good and you do good, and you’re going to be alright. He feels safe, with her. Usually.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So he takes out his phone and dials. But the relief he hoped for does not come. Something keeps nagging him through the whole conversation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he gets it, he forgets that he’s not supposed to talk about stuff like that directly. Talia Head could be tapped by anyone: competition, Feds on Luthor’s orders, Feds against Luthor’s orders. Ra’s. Bruce. Superman doesn’t even need to tape anyone, though he probably won’t, if he wants Jon and Damian to continue having their playdates.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He feels like she is going to hang up soon, so he rushes before the call ends and he’s left alone to overthink it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hey," he says. It's right before he feels she's going to hang up. "Penguin always used to be more careful. And this? Guns? There's no plausible deniability anymore."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Is there a question?" Talia asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She's calm. Almost no inflection. She knows what he means, then, but still, she's going to make him say it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I wonder," he says, looking up. The ceiling doesn't offer him any help. He breathes deeply. "What changed. What made him so bold."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I couldn't say."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Couldn't you?" Jason says without thinking. He regrets it instantly. "Shit. Sorry. No, of course. You don't. It's just. This city. Makes me paranoid. Something in the air, I guess."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Don't apologize," she orders, and Jason is unsure if it means 'if you're going to do it again', or 'if you're right". "You have good instincts. You should trust them. But I can assure you, I did not set Penguin up, nor do I know or care about what emboldened him."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The thing with Talia is, she never lies to him. Never hides the truth either out of misplaced desire to protect him, or whatever. So he leaves it at that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Because the only times Talia is not direct with him is when she wants him to figure the answer for himself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They say their goodbyes. Their conversation did make Jason feel slightly better, if only because there was a new objective in mind now, something to focus on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She led him to Gotham. What did she want him to see?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn't whatever Penguin was into, she made that clear. And the only thing of note Jason saw today was what they carefully did not speak about. The new Robin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jason makes himself some tea, takes Gotham Gazette in hand, and reads it through. Then he dumps the rest of the teapot in the sink, makes himself a coffee in a go-cup, and goes to the library.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There, he checks out all the newspaper's copies for the last three months. He focuses on obituaries. Frankly, it's a hunch. But that's basically what Talia told him to do, and it pays off. A pattern, starting with two months ago, emerges.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He also discovers the answer about the reason behind Penguin's new line of business. It's not that Penguin got cocky. It's what he got </span>
  <em>
    <span>desperate</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Someone began taking out his top earners in racketeering, prostitution, and extortion with extreme prejudice. From ten to twenty guys at the time. Not even Jason could do something so bloody himself, without serious planning. Not because, if you judge by crime scenes descriptions in the paper, it was a skilled work. But getting all of them together in the same place, especially after they knew they were being hunted? It screamed an inside job to Jason.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn't think Penguin realized it though, because then the perpetrator would be dead, and a lot of other people who seemed like they could be, too. Then Penguin wouldn't feel reckless enough to get his hands in the gun pie, especially without proper infrastructure and channels of distribution. Which - Jason didn't count scared children as efficient means of moving weapons through the city. And Penguin, as a businessman, should have realized that. Unless he invested too much into this avenue to care.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jason briefly pondered if he should dig deeper, find the one who set it all in motion. But in the end, Penguin's choices were his own. And Jason went only after people who went after kids. So he had a more relevant target now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Someone was killing Robin look-alikes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was just a hypothesis when he read through in memoriams. It becomes a solid theory when he double checks his assumptions using the library's computer. There were murders, masked as robberies gone wrong. All of the family - slaughtered in their sleep. The kid - a boy, teenager, an only child. Black hair, athletic built, not terribly tall, easy smile. Done good in school but not a nerd, did sports on some level or another, based on the school website. Was friendly with a lot of people, based on the sheer amount of touching rest-in-peace messages on the wall of his Facebook account. Not a lot of close ones, based on the friend count there. Family was not rich but not struggling either, based on photos. Not great relationships with parents, based on posts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If Jason was someone who wanted to kill Robin, and never knew who Batman was, that kind of profile would cross his mind too. Only, it would be too unspecific to be workable. You would have to go through and vet a lot of candidates, and you couldn't really do that unless you were stalking each of them, and if you did that, chances are the real Robin would notice and take measures and you wouldn't be able to kill him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Obviously, whoever the killer was, they did not take chances and their vetting process consisted of just crossing kids off the list by killing them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jason stumbles out of the library and lights a cigarette. It doesn't calm him down because he's not addicted anymore. Keeps a pack in the pocket at all times just so he could use it, if needed, as a reason for loitering somewhere he shouldn't be.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He doesn't do this often. Prefers not to be seen at all. The smoke irritates his throat. He coughs, like he's twelve again and it's his first cigarette. Or like he's sixteen, and...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Jason flicks the cigarette to the ground, and crushes the tiny flame with his boot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A girl coming up the steps looks at him askance, then behind him. He glances back - shit, there was a trash can behind him. Why did they hide it in the corner? He kicks it, and it falls down. If you want to keep people from littering, you should make it easier for them to do so.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh my god!" the girl shouts, looking downright angry now and pointing a finger at him. "I'm telling on you!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She runs up the stairs. What does she think she can do? Rat him out to the library security? Bring it on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He kicks the can once more. Then he sighs, picks it up, and gets the hell out of here, hands in his pockets.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sometimes I write things that other people would want to read, too.<br/>Uh, at least I assume so. </p><p>Oh, and here's my <a href="https://redjaybathood.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a>, where people can prompt me or send me an ask, or check out stuff I'm not posting here yet. Like - platonic soulmates AU! Battle for the Cowl A/B/O AU! Battle for the Cowl coda! Stuff like that.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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